Helldivers 2’s Latest Major Order Presents Players With a Moral Dilemma: Save Sick Kids or Unlock a New Stratagem

Helldivers 2’s ongoing Galactic War has taken yet another interesting turn by presenting players with something of a moral dilemma: work together to save sick children from certain death or unlock a new stratagem.

The in-universe announcement from Super Earth, below, details the explosive PlayStation 5 and PC co-op shooter’s new Major Order: liberate Vernen Wells, which is home to thousands of civilian survivors trapped inside a children’s hospital, or liberate Marfark, which will in turn unlock the MD-17 Anti-Tank Mines stratagem. Only the citizens or weaponry on the first liberated planet is likely to be saved, the Major Order reads. Both planets are currently held by the Automatons, Helldivers 2’s terrifying robot enemy faction.

MAJOR ORDER: Helldivers, a difficult decision lies ahead. Will you save the trapped survivors on Vernen Wells or the raw ingredients for the MD-17 Anti-Tank Mines on Marfark? pic.twitter.com/U6wiK48YH2

— HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) June 11, 2024

It’s a cool development from developer Arrowhead, whose Game Master Joel pulls the strings of Helldivers 2’s meta narrative from the shadows. And while this is all just a bit of fun, already the community is stressing over what to do.

“We can create more kids, we need the mines now,” reads a post from one player. “We’re never getting those mines….” said another. Some are even suggesting Arrowhead is hiding some secret reward behind saving the children, although that doesn’t sound like a very Super Earth thing to do.

Given how hardcore Helldivers 2 players have struggled to shepherd the wider player base in a single direction for previous Major Orders, there’s a risk here that neither planet is liberated, which would be awful for everyone. Perhaps there’s time for both to be saved. It will be interesting to see which way the galactic wind blows on this one.

This Major Order comes ahead of this week’s new jungle-themed premium warbond and hotly anticipated game-changing patch, which makes over 100 fixes and improvements to Helldivers 2. Both should hit on Thursday, June 31.

This week is a big one for Helldivers 2 and Arrowhead, which recently revealed it was in the process of setting the studio up so it could “make more and better stuff” in the long-term. In an introductory post on reddit, new CEO Shams Jorjani, who recently replaced previous Arrowhead CEO and now current Chief Creative Officer Johan Pilestedt, said the studio has had to adjust to the enormous success Helldivers 2 has brought to the company.

Helldivers 2 is the fastest-selling PlayStation game of all time, having shifted an incredible 12 million copies in just 12 weeks since going on sale earlier this year. Amid the huge revenue Helldivers 2 has generated, Arrowhead itself has suffered a number of crises, including launch server problems and, most recently, a battle with Sony itself over the console maker’s controversial attempt to force Steam players to account link to PlayStation Network.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].